Daniel Cormier: ‘Rumble’ Johnson, Not Jon Jones, Next for 205-Pound Title Shot

After Saturday night, it’s hard to deny Anthony
Johnson a second chance at UFC gold.

In a battle of light heavyweight contenders, “Rumble” confirmed his
reputation as arguably the scariest man in the division by knocking
out Glover
Teixeira with an uppercut 13 seconds into their co-headlining
encounter at UFC
202.

“I told my coach this morning if I was gonna knock out Glover it
was going to be by uppercut, and it worked out perfectly,” Johnson
said during an interview on Fox Sports 1.

“My fighting style and his fighting style, I just knew that the
speed and power would be there for me and that he would make a
mistake. And he did.”

That makes three straight knockout victories for Johnson since he
fell to current light heavyweight king Daniel
Cormier for the vacant belt at UFC 187 last year. Even Cormier
admits that the Blackzilians standout has earned a rematch.

“I thought Rumble would win; I thought he would knock him out. I
didn’t think it would be that fast, but that’s what Rumble does,
man. He’s a great fighter,” Cormier said. “He’s got unbelievable
power, and he’s doing this over and over again. I am honored to be
competing against him again. I can’t wait.”

Cormier was supposed to defend his crown against Jon Jones in
the UFC 200 headliner but that bout was scrapped when Jones failed
an out-of-competition drug test. Instead, “DC” outpointed Anderson
Silva in a non-title bout at the July 9 event.

While both Jones and UFC President Dana White have hinted that the
fighter’s anti-doping violation might not be as bad as initially
feared, Cormier was adamant on social media that Johnson would be
his next foe, even if Jones ends up with a reduced suspension:

For his part, Johnson expects to be a much improved version of the
fighter who faded against Cormier in their initial encounter.

“I will do everything different. You know how he [Cormier] said to
Jon
Jones, ‘I will die fighting you’ or whatever he said? That’s me
right now. I want that gold. I want that strap. I’m coming to get
it.

“I train my butt off. And people don’t believe that. But you got
elite athletes such as Daniel pushing you to a point where you can
barely stand up and barely breathe, that’s just how it goes
sometimes,” he added. “But it was his night the last time; it’s
gonna be my night the next time.”